How to fix a broken MS Office (Project) Library reference? - excel

One day while happily working away in MS Project I noticed that one of my custom formula fields did not work anymore. When I went to check the formula, it was gone (the formula, not the custom field). So, I went to go copy it from one of my other project files that uses the same formula. It was gone from there as well.
Strange. I asked a colleague if they could download the exact same file I was looking at and see the formula in the custom field. They did, and they could! Then we asked more colleagues to download the same file. Some could see the formula, and some could not.
When trying to manually add the formula back in, I get the following error for any of the ProjDateXX functions:
When clicking OK, it highlights the date parameter "12d". For those who have this problem, it is the same for all ProjDateXX functions (date parameter isn't recognized).
So far, I have uninstalled and reinstalled MS Project, then MS Office and MS Project. Nothing fixes this.
The only clue I have to go on now is that the MS Project Library appears to be registered incorrectly, as seen here:
The only other possible clue my colleagues and I have are that those of us who have the problem recently received Project Online P3 licenses in addition to the existing Project Professional licenses we already had. Why this would cause only one set of functions to stop working, or why that might cause the Project Object library reference to be missing the version number, are mysteries.
We are stumped and have no leads at this point. These functions are critical to our project analysis for some major customers; any help would be greatly appreciated.

Related

Using Text Functions in VBA

I am using LEFT, UCASE, MID and a few other text functions.
eg If UCase(Mid(VBAFormField, 4, 3)) = "ABC" Then
For most users the code works fine. On one PC it gives an error and seems to need modification.
eg If UCase(Application.Worksheetfunction.Mid(VBAFormField, 4, 3)) = "ABC" Then
Things I tried:
Excel versions are identical
VBA Reference libraries are the same on both computers
Any ideas?
I have frequently experienced that VBA (2010) will highlight a missing library for an item for which the library is not missing because another library in fact is missing. It's usually just the first reference to any library in the code. So you should look for a missing library further down in the code, more likely, a not so standard object.
I have also frequently experienced (with any version of VBA up to 365) that errors aren't shown right away but are "remembered". I have explained this to myself by acknowledging that given a large project VBA will assemble the parts it needs as it needs them but once an error was discovered it won't be overlooked a second time and is flagged right away. This behavior could explain why only one of your PCs objects to the code. The others just didn't get around to it yet.
I would guess there must be an add-on or a language setting that is causing a conflict. However as Tim Williams pointed out, you're using the worksheet function in VBA when a VBA function exists that does this exact task you need to complete it.
While probably not necessary, you could go even further and scope the formulas to be vba specific just to ensure the proper library is being utilized.
MsgBox VBA.UCase(VBA.Mid("SomeText!", 4, 3))

Microsoft Edge F12 and Microsoft Edge Dev Tools Preview crashes

The Microsoft Edge F12 tool and the Microsoft Edge Dev Tool Preview app crash on opening. This problem does not occur on same website using new Microsoft Edge Chromium version.
I am writing this question with the intent on self answering it, after 7 lost hours of debugging
I am developing an Excel Add-in using the new Microsoft Edge WebView for office-addins, which just rolled out, and replaces IE11 as the embedded IFrame in Excel with Edge (see https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/office/blogs/microsoft-edge-webview-for-office-add-ins/). After this last month roll out, the problem presented.
The crash is predictable, occurs after 5 seconds after activating the tool. It occurs when using F12 tools in Edge browser, and when using the standalone Dev Tools Preview to remote connect to the Edge browser running in MS Excel.
(I won't put app event logs because I have already solved it)
This is a Microsoft bug, not a coding bug.
It always occurs when using Typescript and defining a multidimensional array with only one element, and only in an async function
async myFunc(){
let x:number[][] = [[9]]; //Edge F12 tool will crash simply by having this line
}
The problem does not occur in non async functions, and does not occur if the variable is defined as a class member. It does not occur if more than one element is defined. Workaround is to define the variable as private class member
public x:number[][] = [[9]]; //ok as member variable
let x:number[][] = [[9,2]]; //ok - even in async function
For those reading this who rightly ask "why would you want to define a multidimensional array with only 1 element". It is because MS Excel is a 2D array, and to set the value of cells the Excel API expects two dimensional arrays Excel.Range.values[][] =any[][]. So if you want to set the value of only one cell, you must supply a multidimensional array with only one value.
NB. I have not raised the bug with Microsoft as they are no longer supporting the Microsoft Edge Dev Tools preview, instead focusing on rolling out the Edge Chromium version, thus deprecating these tools. The problem does not occur in the Edge Chromium developer release, but I have no idea when Edge Chromium will be rolled out as the embedded browser in Excel (we only just left IE11 behind last month)
#JimbobTheSailor
Thank you for taking the time to report the issue and also coming back to provide the possible cause of the issue.
I know you have already spent a bunch of time on this issue, but I was hoping you could provide an example code file, or even npm package, that will cause the issue? I went and added your code and attempted to reproduce the issue, but I could not. GitHub Repo! By providing the entire package, or example, I can also see the different versions of TypeScript and other dependencies. You could also just list them here as well.🙃
If possible, and don't mind grabbing it, could you provide the version of Windows you are using? START | RUN | WINVER . Also, the version of the DevTools Preview? Example:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsPreview_18.924.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
To run my sample all you have to do is:
npm install
npm run build:dev
npm start
...or the yarn equivalent.
This will build, sideload the app, and boot Excel. 🙃

Calculation state is showing as Pending when it should be done

I have built an application that opens an Excel Template from Access. Everything was working wonderfully until I introduced linked pictures in my Excel Templates.
The entire application which used to execute in a few seconds now takes close to a minute to do only such simple things as write data from Access to Excel.
The reason for this is that Excel gets stuck in CalculationStatus = Pending probably because I'm using volatile functions for my linked pictures (offset).
Microsoft is aware of this issue and has kindly documented it along with their "resolution" here... which is essentially nothing.
Does anyone else have an idea how to resolve or work around this issue? I have tried changing my template and not using linked pictures but these solutions don't work very well / are cumbersome.
UPDATE:
I have tried the various solutions that were proposed in the comments. None have worked yet. After having eliminated those options I am essentially at the point where I see that as long as the worksheet contains a linked picture, this bug rears its ugly head.
I'll leave the question open in case someone else does have a workaround.
My own solution for the time being is that I'll be writing code to update the relevant cells using VBA.

Compile throws a "User-defined type not defined" error but does not go to the offending line of code

Symptoms
This is a symptom specifically when compiling an Excel VBA project. The following error occurs:
User-defined type not defined
However, the code that produces this error is not highlighted by the compiler and so I cannot identify the issue.
What I already know and have tried
This is a "User-defined type not defined" error that I have seen before with simple issues such as naming something As Strig instead of As String. However, this particular error is only popping up during the Debug > Compile VBAProject menu option and when the error message box pops up it does not highlight the line of code that the error is occurring in.
After a lot of research I have found that this bug can be related to missing references and I have ruled this out as I have included all needed references and Toolbox objects.
To ensure I wasn't missing any obvious missing Dim statements I have added Option Explicit to all code pages (forms included) to make sure nothing was missing. The error still shows when running a compile.
There is also this known bug that states the issue has been known to happen because of the VB6 projects using binary compatibility:
Turn off Binary Compatibility and compile the project. Visual Basic
will highlight the line of code that contains the User Defined Type
that is not defined. After resolving the problem, Binary Compatibility
can be turned back on.
I found this article via this Question and Answer, however, I cannot find this option in the standard Excel VBA editor.
Help save mine and others' sanity!
I know from Google searches and other questions that I am not the only one who has had this issue.
I have tried going through the code manually but there are simply too many lines to feasibly do so.
Is there a way of turning off Binary Compatibility in Excel VBA projects? How do people find this offending line of code if they can't debug to what they need to change? Any help would be lovely!
Thank you in advance.
Edit: I have found the offending line of code and so my particular issue is solved The problem is still here after removing that particular line - it was a misspelt control name on a form being referenced in its code. This still does not solve the particular issue of how you would go about finding this offending code was the issue. Are we able to find a good way of finding the offending code when this bug happens so others in the future can avoid this agony?
My solution is not good news but at least it should work.
My case is: I have a .xlsm from a coworker. 1) I open it and click the button: it works fine. 2) I save the file, close excel, open the file again: now it doesn't work anymore. The conclusion is: the code is OK but excel can't manage references correctly. (I've tried removing the re-adding the references without any success)
So the solution is to declare every referenced object as Variant and use CreateObject("Foo.Bar") instead of New Foo.Bar.
For example:
Dim objXML As MSXML2.DOMDocument
Set objXML = New MSXML2.DOMDocument
Replaced by:
Dim objXML As Variant
Set objXML = CreateObject("MSXML2.DOMDocument")
I had exactly the same problem (always seems to occur when I try to implement a Interface onto a userform. Download and install Code Cleaner from here. This is a freeware utility that has saved me on numerous occasions. With your VBA project open, run the "Clean Code..." option. Make sure you check the "backup project" and/or "export all code modules" to safe locations before running the clean. As far as I understand it, this utility exports and then re-imports all modules and classes, which eliminates compiler errors that have crept into the code. Worked like a charm for me! Good luck.
Since it sounds like you've tried many different potentional solutions, you'll probably have to do this the long methodical way now.
Create a new blank workbook. Then piece by piece copy your old workbook into it. Add a reference, write a little bit of code to test it. Ensure it compiles, ensure it runs. Add a sub or function, again, write a little test sub to run it, also ensure it compiles. Repeat this process slowly adding and testing everything.
You can speed this up a bit by first trying larger chunks, then when you find one that triggers the problem, remove it and break it into smaller peices for testing.
Either you will find the offender, or you'll have a new workbook that magically does not have the problem. The latter would be due to some sort of hidden corruption in the workbook file, probably in the binary vbproject part.
Welcome to the world of debugging without debuggers or other helpful tools to do the heavy lifting for you!
Just letting you all know I had this problem too. Rather than the code, the issue lay with what macro a button was calling. (It had been calling the 'createroutes.createroutes' macro, but I had renamed the 'createroutes' module to 'routes'.)
Therefore the problem was fixed by pointing the button to the correct location.
Had a similiar experience, but it was because I had renamed an enum in one of my classes. I exported and re-imported the Classes that had referred to the old enum and the error message disappeared. This suggests it is a caching issue in the VBA environment.
I was able to fix the error by
Completely closing Access
Renaming the database file
Opening the renamed database file in Access.
Accepted various security warnings and prompts.
Not only did I choose to Enable Macros, but also accepted to make the renamed database a Trusted Document.
The previous file had also been marked as a Trusted Document.
Successfully compile the VBA project without error, no changes to code.
After the successful compile, I was able to close Access again, rename it back to the original filename. I had to reply to the same security prompts, but once I opened the VBA project it still compiled without error.
A little history of this case and observations:
I'm posting this answer because my observed symptoms were a little different than others and/or my solution seems unique.
At least during part of the time I experienced the error, my VBA window was showing two extra, "mysterious" projects. Regrettably I did not record the names before I resolved the error. One was something like ACXTOOLS. The modules inside could not be opened.
I think the original problem was indeed due to bad code since I had made major changes to a form before attempting to update its module code. But even after fixing the code the error persisted. I knew the code worked, because the form would load and no errors. As the original post states, the “User-defined type not defined” error would appear but it would not go to any offending line of code.
Prior to finding this error, I ensured all necessary references were added. I compacted and repaired the database more than once. I closed down Access and reopened the file numerous times between various fix attempts. I removed the suspected offending form, but still got the error. I tried other various steps suggested here and on other forums, but nothing fix the problem.
I stumbled upon this fix when I made a backup copy for attempting drastic measures, like deleting one form/module at a time. But upon opening the backup copy, the problem did not reoccur.
I had this problem with an ordinary VB6 program. It turned out that I had omitted a class definition, not a user-defined type. Apparently VB saw something like "Thing.name" and assumed Thing was a UDT. Yes, it's a serious VB6 bug, but you could hardly expect Microsoft to support something they sold sixteen years ago. So what versions of the various products involved are you using? This is only interesting if it occurs with a product that MS supports.
I know this is old, but I had a similar problem and found a fix:
I had the same issue with a module I ported from Excel into Access, in an unrelated UDF I was dimming 'As Range' but ranges don't exist in Access. You may be using a variable type without having the proper reference library turned on.
If you have any non-standard dims google them and see if you're missing the reference to that library under tools.
-E
For future reference -
I had this issue with this piece of code in Microsoft Access with the debugger highlighting the line with the comment:
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
Dim strSQL As String
Dim rstrSQL As String
Dim strTempPass As String
Private Sub btnForgotPassword_Click()
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
Dim oApp As Outlook.Application '<---------------------------------Offending line
Dim oMail As MailItem
Set oApp = CreateObject("Outlook.application") 'this is the "instance" of Outlook
Set oMail = oApp.CreateItem(olMailItem) 'this is the actual "email"
I had to select references that were previously unselected. They were
Microsoft Outlook 15.0 Object Library
Microsoft Outlook View Control
For the Scripting.Dictionary type, you can either use late binding (as already pointed out ) with:
Dim Dict as Object
Set Dict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
Which works, but you don't get the code auto completion. Or you use early binding, but you need to make sure that VBA can find the Scripting.Dictionary type by adding the reference to the Microsoft Scripting Library via VBA-->Tools-->References--> "Microsoft Scripting Runtime". Then you can use:
Dim Dict as Scripting.Dictionary
Set Dict = New Scripting.Dictionary
... and auto completion will work.
Possible solution, you are trying to work with Powerpoint via Excel VBA and you didn't activate Powerpoint Object Library first.
To do this, in the VBA editor top menu select Tools, References, then scroll down to click the library called Microsoft Powerpoint xx.x Object Library. Office 2007 is library 12, each Office version has a different library. FYI, I've experienced some odd errors and file corruption when I activate the 2007 library but someone tries to open and run this macro using Excel 2003. The old version of Excel doesn't recognize the newer library, which seems to cause problems.
When I had this error in a MS Access database I used the /decompile command line switch along with the Compact/Repair option. Worked for me.
I had removed a reference that I was sure my code no longer used and started getting this error.
Late Binding
This error can occur due to a missing reference. For example when changing from early binding to late binding, by eliminating the reference, some code may remain that references data types specific the the dropped reference.
Try including the reference to see if the problem disappears.
Maybe the error is not a compiler error but a linker error, so the specific line is unknown. Shame on Microsoft!
After years I have discovered one, if not the, answer to the Microsoft bug of the 'User-defined type not defined' error in Excel. I'm running Excel 2010 for Windows.
If you have a UDF named for example 'xyz()', then if you invoke a non-existent entity beginning with that name followed by a period followed by other chars -- e.g., if you try to invoke non-existent range name 'xyz.abc', the stupid app throws that wrong msg., after which it returns you to your sheet.
In my case it was especially unnerving, because I have UDFs named with just one letter, e.g. x(), y(), etc., and I also have range names that include periods--'x.a', 'c.d', etc. Every time I, say, misspelled a range name--for example, 'x.h', the 'User-defined …' error was thrown simply because a UDF named 'x()' existed somewhere in my project.
It took several hrs. to diagnose. Suggestions above to incrementally remove code from your project, or conversely strip all code and incrementally add it back in, were on the right track but they didn't follow thru. It has nothing to do with code per se; it has only to do with the name of the first line of code in each proc, namely the Sub MyProc or Function MyProc line naming the proc. It was when I commented out one of my 1-letter-named UDFs in a completely unrelated part of the project that the bugged error msg. went away, and from there, after another hr. or so, I was able to generalize the rule as stated.
Perhaps the bug also occurs with punctuation characters other than period ('.') But there aren't very many non-alpha chars permitted in a range name; underline ('_') is allowed, but using it in the manner described doesn't seem to throw the bug.
Jim Luedke
I had the same error yesterday: I had two classes, cProgress and cProgressEx, in my project, one of which was no longer used, and when I removed cProgress class I was given this same compilation error.
I managed to fix the error as follows:
Exported all modules, forms and classes to the hard drive
Removed everything from the project
Saved the project
Reimported all modules, forms and classes, removed cProgress class, and compiled.
The error disappeared.
An different problem with the same symptom: I had a class implemented which was not defined. It was wrapped with a #if that I thought should have not allowed the compiler to see it, but not so. Remove the comment out the Implements statement and all is well. I assume importing the definition would also work...
I had the same issue, if you enable Microsoft Scripting Runtime you should be good. You can do so under tools > references > and then check the box for Microsoft Scripting Runtime. This should solve your issue.
A bit late, and not a complete solution either, but for everyone who gets hit by this error without any obvious reason (having all the references defined, etc.) This thread put me on the correct track though. The issue seems to originate from some caching related bug in MS Office VBA Editor.
After making some changes to a project including about 40 forms with code modules plus 40 classes and some global modules in MS Access 2016 the compilation failed.
Commenting out code was obviously not an option, nor did exporting and re-importing all the 80+ files seem reasonable.
Concentrating on what had recently been changed, my suspicions focused on removal of one class module.
Having no better ideas I re-cereated an empty class module with the same name that had previously been removed. And voliá the error was gone!
It was even possible to remove the unused class module again without the error reappearing, until any changes were saved to a form module which previously had contained a WithEvents declaration involving the now removed class.
Not completely sure if WithEvents declaration really is what triggers the error even after the declaration has been removed. And no clues how to actually find out (without having information about the development history) which Form might be the culprit...
But what finally solved the issue was:
In VBE - Copy all code from Form code module
In Access open Form in Design view and set Has Module property to No
Save the project (this removes any code associated with Form)
(Not sure if need to close and re-open Access, but I did it)
Open Form in Design view and set Has Module property back to Yes
In VBE paste back the copied out module code
Save
I had this same problem when I inherited another analyst's workbook. He assigned macros to each button on his worksheet. When I changed the name of the module (not the procedure name), it kicked up this error.
The fix was easy. Have the button run an _OnClick() event procedure in the worksheet and have that procedure explicitly Call MyProcedureName().
I've seen this error too when the code stopped at the line:
Dim myNode As MSXML2.IXMLDOMNode
I found out that I had to add "Microsoft XML, v6.0" via Tools > Preferences.
Then it worked for me.
I don't have an answer as to what is actually wrong or to directly fix it.
I can report that exporting all the code and forms, then importing them into a fresh workbook fixed it for me. All the work was recovered, and nothing more needed to be done to get back to work. Since that works, it seems clear that it must be a bug in Excel, or whatever it is would still be missing in the new version.
I do have a possible clue to how this Excel (2007) bug works. It seems to be associated with the removal of a class module (or two). (But not every class module, every time for some reason.) No code was using any part of the removed modules (or the new imported version would not work either). One module had been cut down to nothing but some comments (in hope of removing anything that could be "missing" later) so that there was no code visibly connecting it to any other part of the project. But the error came up shortly after I removed the code module entirely. The error also stopped when the removed (but exported just in case) modules were returned. So for convenience, this project had been packing two unused code modules to avoid this error.
It appears then, that somehow some element of some departed modules remains in the VBA environment, even if nothing is being used from these (there two in this case) class modules anywhere in the project. Consequently, the debug/compile finds that element, and it is no surprise that something is missing because it is. Since the thing that is missing is nowhere in the project there is nothing to highlight so there is a message only and nothing else happens. That would explain the observed behavior.

How to get Google page rank and number of searches in Excel sheet?

I have a link in one column and, based on it, I want
Number of Google searches in column 2
Page rank of first result in column 3
I know this can be done, as I saw a friend pulling google search result right in Excel. If anyone knows, please share how I could do that.
If I correctly interpret your question, one of the tasks you had to do is
How do I get programmatically the Google page rank for a list of URLs?
You can find the code to do this in this CodeProject article:
Request Google´s Pagerank programmatically
Regarding the Excel part: it depends which programming framework or platforms you could use. You could use to create a .NET extension for Excel using the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office.
From Excel there is Data->Get External Data->New Web Query. Is this what you want?
You have two options, both of which are unfortunately poorly documented.
If you are comfortable in C/C++, you can write a special DLL called an "XLL" that you can call during Excel runtime. There is some sparse documentation available. Note that this stuff isn't very fun to use.
If you prefer .NET, there is a binding for the entire Office suite outlined here that allows you to write COM-based methods that you can call from Office. It is intended for automation, but you can write any managed code you want and have Excel call into it.
There is also what Remou just suggested; I don't actually own a copy of Excel to test that out, but it may be the easiest option.
By link i meant keywords and not URL. I want to put a keyword in one cell and pull number of searches and page rank in adjacent cells.
I tried doing the same with web query in excel but i can only reach till the number of searches. that too not in the proper cell (trying to figure out). But i have no clue about how to get the pageranks.
I am not that tech savvy to code a binder or plugin for myself. Although i am checking the link by splattne. Please focus more light on it. Is it gonna be time consuming if i try to make this one..?
Regards
Thinkjayant
There are some nice plugins for this (in various languages) on GitHub:
http://github.com/search?langOverride=&language=&q=pagerank&repo=&start_value=1&type=Repositories&x=0&y=0
I have a PR checker functions in my Excel plugin "SeoTools".
http://nielsbosma.se/projects/seotools/

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